The Queen commissions HMS Queen Elizabeth

Blackleaf

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On Thursday morning, the Queen welcomed Britain's new £3.1 billion aircraft carrier into the Royal Navy fleet and declared it the "best of British".



Accompanied by the Princess Royal, the Queen arrived on board HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth Naval Base using a specially installed lift to bring her up to the hangar for the occasion.

The BBC showed live coverage of the commissioning ceremony:

 

Curious Cdn

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These are excellent ships that will serve you well for a good part of this century. The only flaw in them is that they were designed around one specific aircraft, only. The tail wagged the dog.
 

Blackleaf

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These are excellent ships that will serve you well for a good part of this century. The only flaw in them is that they were designed around one specific aircraft, only. The tail wagged the dog.

There are lots of different aircraft that will serve on these carriers.
 

Curious Cdn

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There are lots of different aircraft that will serve on these carriers.

There are lots of different rotary aircraft that can serve on the but there is only one (1) type of fixed wing aircraft that can fly off of them as they have no catapults, arrester gear nor an angled flight deck to land anything but VTOL aircraft. Harriers would work also if there were any of them left.
 

Blackleaf

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There are lots of different rotary aircraft that can serve on the but there is only one (1) type of fixed wing aircraft that can fly off of them as they have no catapults, arrester gear nor an angled flight deck to land anything but VTOL aircraft. Harriers would work also if there were any of them left.

Even if they had catapults there still would have been one type of fixed wing aircraft operating from them: the F35-A.

And helicopters can often prove far more effective: Apaches were far more successful in Libya than strike aircraft.



 

Curious Cdn

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Even if they had catapults there still would have been one type of fixed wing aircraft operating from them: the F35-A.

And helicopters can often prove far more effective: Apaches were far more successful in Libya than strike aircraft.




You should have built more heleicopter carriers, then. They are a fraction of the cost.(By the way, I toured the previous HMS Albion, just before she was paid off in the 1970's).
 

Blackleaf

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You should have built more heleicopter carriers, then. They are a fraction of the cost.(By the way, I toured the previous HMS Albion, just before she was paid off in the 1970's).

Why? The Queen Elizabeth-class carriers can carry helicopters.

By the way, during the commissioning ceremony there was this cake...



... even though the ship is named after Elizabeth I, not Elizabeth II as many people assume.
 

Curious Cdn

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Feb 22, 2015
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Why? The Queen Elizabeth-class carriers can carry helicopters.

By the way, during the commissioning ceremony there was this cake...



... even though the ship is named after Elizabeth I, not Elizabeth II as many people assume.

So, you just paid three times as much for a helicopter carrier?

Not too bright, you Brits. The ones with brains and ambition left two centuries ago.
 

Hoid

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A sad little boat for a sad little country.

Hopefully it will make them all feel better about themselves somehow.
 

Curious Cdn

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A sad little boat for a sad little country.

Hopefully it will make them all feel better about themselves somehow.

You'd think that their nuclear weapons would do that, as they have no other practical use.
 

Hoid

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You would think they would have something better to spend all that money on.

must be good times in england these days.
 

gerryh

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Congrats blackleaf. Most of the posts here are sour grapes considering our only aircraft carrier was a British hand me down as were our last subs and it looks like the newest addition to our air force will be Australian hand me downs.
 

Curious Cdn

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Congrats blackleaf. Most of the posts here are sour grapes considering our only aircraft carrier was a British hand me down as were our last subs and it looks like the newest addition to our air force will be Australian hand me downs.

Three of our five carriers were British built. Two others were American built. Four of the five WERE hand-me-downs and the last was purchased, then heavily modified beyond the "British" pattern with an angled flight deck, steam catapults and other US kit (including American aircraft)

Just sayin ...

(See HMCS Nabob, Puncher, Warrior, Magnificent, Bonaventure)

The previous subs to our current subs were also British and they did superb service in our Navy from beginning to end.
 

Hoid

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Three of our five carriers were British built. Two others were American built. Four of the five WERE hand-me-downs and the last was purchased, then heavily modified beyond the "British" pattern with an angled flight deck, steam catapults and other US kit (including American aircraft)

Just sayin ...

(See HMCS Nabob, Puncher, Warrior, Magnificent, Bonaventure)

The previous subs to our current subs were also British and they did superb service in our Navy from beginning to end.
they did nothing for anyone ever.

just like our f18s